The Kuchar Model 1 Arm Lock from Bettinardi

April 23rd, 2015

Chris Murphy

From the 1st of January 2016 golf’s ruling bodies will ban the anchoring of putters in competition. For a number of professionals and amateurs who struggle with the short stick this is quite a scary prospect, there is however light at the end of the tunnel.

The Kuchar Model 1 Arm Lock

If you have been watching some of the golf from America over the past few weeks, The Masters and the RBC Heritage in particular, you will have seen a lot of Matt Kuchar as always and you might have noticed his putting.

Kuch uses a new method he created called the arm lock putting technique, and it has been working great for him. Bettinardi were able to do something his previous putter manufacturer could not, create an extra long standard putter so he could run it up his left forearm, but have enough loft on it ( 7 degrees ) that it would not sit so closed at setup.

Comparing the difference in size between a Kuchar Model 1 Arm Lock and a standard putter

The Kuchar Model 1 Arm Lock is designed as a heel toe weighted, face balanced putter with a wider profile. It features a double bend shaft with 2.5 shaft offset. This beautiful putter is milled from proprietary Soft Carbon steel and boasts our non-corrosive Pewter P.V.D. finish. It was made specially for Kuchar for this style of putting.

The key point is that this technique will not be banned in 2016, golfers are free to continue to putt using the arm lock technique and I think we will see more and more pros who using long putters to make the move towards this.

I was kindly invited down to the World of Golf at New Malden by Bettinadi brand ambassador Duncan Woolger to try out the arm lock technique and see what I made of it.

I can see how if you are struggling with your putting the arm lock technique would be like a whole new world of fun. It takes the hands out of the putting stroke and you just concentrate on swinging the arms and making a smooth stoke. I think if you are having a hard time on the greens within minutes of practising this you will be like a new golfer.

The putter should be gripped in the left hand and you should have the grip running up your left arm with the top of the grip two inches below your elbow. To get a feel for how you need to keep your left elbow straight when using this technique give the putter a swing.

Experiment with where the ball feels best in the stance for you, it will vary from golfer to golfer. You do not want the face to be too closed or too open and this can change depending on ball position. Once you are in a good set up you just need to bring the right hand into place on the grip, but more to just keep the whole thing stable, the left arm will do most of the work.

Once you are set up you just need to go ahead and make a solid stroke. I was amazing at home many putts I holed and how quickly I got use to the technique. I know now how Kuchar is holing so many putts and winning so many tournaments. As of the last tournament on the PGA Tour Matt Kuchar is No.1 for the average one putt percentage, try out the Bettinadri Kuchar Arm Lock 1 and you may understand why!

If you are struggling with your putting you have to give this putter and technique a try.